Whom God will destroy, he first make mad. (Strauss 1994, p. 841)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
God ruins those he first drives insane
Examples
The politician's erratic behavior led many to whisper that whom God will destroy, he first makes mad
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Whom God will destroy, he first make mad. (Strauss 1994, p. 841)” mean?
God ruins those he first drives insane
Is “Whom God will destroy, he first make mad. (Strauss 1994, p. 841)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.